Formerly imprisoned Michigan journalist Danny Fenster reflects on Paul Whelan's homecoming

HUNTINGTON WOODS, Mich. (CBS DETROIT) — Now that Paul Whelan is back home, what will life be like for him in the coming days and weeks?

CBS News Detroit spoke with Huntington Woods native and journalist Danny Fenster, who was imprisoned in Myanmar in 2021.

He summed up his return back home as surreal.

"For me, the most lasting thing was a sense of gratitude. And I really hope that's the same for these guys," Fenster said.

Fenster was sentenced to 11 years in prison by a military court in Myanmar, accused of publishing and circulating comments that "cause fear."

"They know the people they're holding are not guilty of anything. They often don't suspect them of anything. So, knowing that it is actually a matter of just waiting day-to-day like they are waiting to make a trade doesn't make those days any easier. But it does. You know, if you can remember that it is going to end. I think that's really important," Fenster said.

The now 40-year-old spent six months behind bars and vividly remembers the isolation.

"I was constantly thinking about family back at home and every once in a while, I would be able to communicate with them. It was sort of the height of COVID in Myanmar at the time, so communications were constantly being shut off," he said.

The day of his release was one of confusion and disbelief.

"Once they told me, this is what's happening. We're going to hand you over. I was just an incredible, incredible amount of relief, and I mean, I think I still didn't even let myself feel it then until I was outside looking at an airplane that they said I was allowed to board," Fenster said.

And it wasn't until he returned to Metro Detroit that it sunk how much support he'd had.

"Every house I passed in front of had a lawn sign with my face on it. It was a really surreal thing. You know, I would be jogging down the street, and cars would pull over and roll the window down and just shout, welcome home! I mean, it was just unbelievable," Fenster said.

In the following weeks, although it wasn't mandatory, Fenster traveled to Washington D.C. to answer questions from the U.S. State Department regarding his time behind bars.

A charitable organization covered the cost of his medical screening; he anticipates the same for those recently released.

"I just want to let Paul and Evan know how incredibly happy I am that they're home and how moving it was to watch this story unfold in the last couple of days," Fenster said.

Fenster, who is in a civil union with his partner Juliana, plans to continue his work in Southeast Asia, but he does visit the U.S. at least once a year.